Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

EMMERICH

I stare at Klaus, worry gnawing at me. He is riding the edge of his anger, the mating instinct forcing out all the fears he's been harboring for years but never dealt with. Ever since we moved to America, he's been trying to find our remaining roost mate, and he— we —failed time and time again.

Now Morgan is here, and he's worried he will scare her away, and that, in turn, is making him even scarier than he usually is.

Our human mate is not a timid bunny. She was afraid at first but she is curious now more than anything, so all I need to do is calm Klaus down before he says something he might regret.

Like telling the woman of our dreams that she will not be fucking a kraken in the future. That she will not be fucking anyone else but us. I don't think human women appreciate orders. If Morgan was a gargoyle, she might have bitten Klaus for an outrageous statement like that. Morgan hasn't shown any inclination that she might want to bite us, but you never know with humans. They are unpredictable and strange, so maybe…

"Emmerich," Klaus snaps. "What are you doing?"

I blink and glanceup at him, confused. "What?"

"You're scaring Morgan."

I whip my gaze to our mate to find her staring at me, wide-eyed.

"I'm sorry," I blurt. "I was only looking at your teeth."

"My teeth?" Morgan brings a hand up to cover her mouth. "Why?"

Klaus groans and goes to turn away from me, but I snag his hand and pull him back. I give his fingers a quick squeeze to let him know we're in this together. Whatever happens with Morgan will affect both of us, and I won't do anything to push her away.

At least not knowingly.

I release Klaus' hand and slowly reach forward, tugging on Morgan's wrist until she shows me her mouth again. Then I cup her cheek gently and run the pad of my thumb over her full lower lip. She sucks in a breath but doesn't flinch away from me, and some of my worry dissipates.

"I was trying to judge how much it would hurt Klaus if you bit him with your blunt human teeth," I explain, unable to let go of her now that I've felt her soft skin.

Morgan's straight eyebrows draw together in a frown. "Why would I bite him?"

Klaus shifts in his seat, his wings flaring out for a moment before he catches himself and tucks them tight against his back. Oh, he must like this despite himself. He's leaning forward, waiting for my answer, and I stifle a grin, knowing I have redirected his fussing into curiosity.He has a thing for biting, and if Morgan does, too, that will make things easier.

"Because he's being such a terrible brute." I grin at Morgan, then add, "All without telling you he wants to kiss you again."

Morgan's cheeks flush prettily, and she draws away from me and pushes her glasses up her nose. It's a nervous tell of hers, I've noticed.

"Y-you know we kissed?" she breathes. "That doesn't bother you?"

I lean back and cross my arms over my chest. "Why would it? I kissed Klaus today, too. Does that bother you?"

"Of course not," she says quickly, back snapping straight. "But you two are a couple—I mean, roost mates."

"Yes," I agree. "And now you are one, too."

She matches my position, leaning back against the armchair and crossing her arms. "Explain."

I can't help but grin at her bossy command. I like her like this—and I think this is her usual demeanor, when she's not injured and frightened by big winged monsters such as Klaus.

The winged monster next to me leans forward. "We scented you and knew. You're the one we've been waiting for all this time."

Morgan's frown deepens. "No pressure," she mutters. "That doesn't explain what you expect of me."

Klaus opens his mouth again, no doubt to list all the things mates do together—fuck, bite, hunt, rest, fuck, and so on—but I don't think that will work with Morgan. She didn't know we existed up until tonight, and she needs to be eased into this.

I snap my right wing out and smack Klaus in the side with it. I might prick him with my claw a little, too, but his skin is thick, and he needs the reminder that he should tread carefully.

"Gargoyles mate for life," I tell Morgan, speaking quickly so Klaus won't speak instead of me. "Klaus and I met years ago in Germany, but we felt we needed to cross the ocean to find our mate. We've been searching far and wide."

Morgan's frown eases a little, and she listens to me intently, as if she doesn't want to miss a word.

"If you were a gargoyle, you would have felt the pull as well, a certainty right here." I place a hand over my heart, where a soft warm glow has been growing for the past hours, ever since I laid eyes on the snowy bundle in Klaus' arms. "And we would be fucking already, unable to hold back."

"Emmerich," Klaus snaps, annoyance clear in his tone.

But Morgan flaps a hand at him, impatient. "No, no, this is good. Keep going. So you have an instinct to, ah, mate immediately? Is it to continue the species?"

I blink at the question. "Er, I suppose? I would love to put a baby in you, yes."

Her cheeks flush a deeper pink, while Klaus groans at my side, burying his face in his hands.

"It might be a little too soon for babies," Morgan says, her voice higher than before. "But I understand the mating urge. It's similar in many species. I've just never heard of a bond that forms so fast." She flicks her gaze from me to Klaus and back. "And you've never experienced this with any other woman? You've met females of your kind, yes?"

Klaus lowers his hands and stares at her. "Of course we have. Not one of them was right for us."

"But you are," I add, grinning again. "You smell exactly right. And you are strong, you'll be able to bear gargoyle babies."

Now her eyes go round. "Gargoyle babies? Do they—oh God, are they born with wings? With horns?"

Now her scent is spiking with anxiety again, and I draw back, not understanding where I fucked up.

Klaus glares at me, then reaches forward to put a hand on Morgan's knee. "No," he says, his deep voice ringing true. "That would make childbirth very dangerous. The wings are only small nubs at birth, as are the horns, so they don't hurt the mother."

"The tail is there from the start," I add, trying to be helpful. I swish my tail up to show Morgan. "It's not as big as this. Just a small thing, no larger than my little finger."

Morgan's breaths are coming faster now, her scent going haywire. Klaus growls, no doubt thrown into a frenzy by our mate's fear. I know she's in no danger, but seeing her so upset is wreaking havoc on my senses, too, so I stumble from my chair, kneeling in front of Morgan.

"Don't leave," I rasp. "Please, don't leave us. I'm sorry I upset you, Liebchen . I didn't want that. But if you're scared of me, I'll leave. Just don't go."

Klaus stands, no doubt to pull me off her, but I can't move, not until she sends me away. I won't leave my mate willingly, but if Morgan decides she doesn't want me here, I won't stay. I couldn't live with myself if I made her uncomfortable.

Morgan sits still for a moment, then a warm hand touches my shoulder. She draws in a deep inhale, then tightens her hold on me, her fingers trembling. Hope springs up in my chest, painfully bright, so I lift my head to look at her.

"I don't want you to leave," she says softly. "This is your home."

I lean my head to the side to nuzzle against her wrist. Morgan allows it, her only reaction a slight hitch in her breathing.

"You want to have babies with me?" she asks, her brown eyes still so wide.

A terrifying possibility pops up in my mind. Surely that's not… But Morgan is human, so…

"You don't want gargoyle children," I say, my voice strangely hollow. "You kissed Klaus to see what it was like to kiss a monster, but you want your children to be pink and soft, without horns and tails and wings."

I wouldn't mind a human child. I would have to be careful with it, because if adult humans are this easily injured, their young must be even more so, helpless, pink little beans. But I wouldn't reject one, and I would care for it as best I could, even if it could never fly with me in the night sky.

I'd always imagined myself as a father, taking our children out to fly for the first time. Young gargoyles learn to fly at about three years of age, after they've toddled around the roost for a while, learned to perch and hop and exercise their wings. I'd hoped we could build a nest for them here, a comfortable nook filled with pillows and perches and blankets for them to remain cozy while their skin hardened to be like ours, near-impenetrable and thick.

We even bought the supplies to build a nest, months ago, because we'd been so hopeful. We wanted to be ready for our mate in case we met her unexpectedly.

Now we have—and she's disgusted with the thought of bearing a gargoyle child.

Morgan's fingers tremble on my shoulder, and she pulls her hand away. Her eyes fill with tears. She blinks rapidly, but they spill down her cheeks, where she dashes them away with her hand as if angry with herself for crying.

My heart hurts at the sight. It feels like it's being rent in two, both by the realization that Morgan might not want a future with us, and by her tears—which I caused.

I push to my feet and step back, not wanting to crowd her. She was so soft and willing in my arms earlier, I didn't even think that this might be a problem, but of course it is. I turn away, both to give her space and to hide the devastating disappointment coursing through me. Klaus tries to stop me, but I twist away from his hand, breaths coming faster and faster.

"I don't even know you," Morgan bursts out suddenly.

I whirl around to face her, and there she is, standing, one hand on the back of the armchair for support, glaring at me fiercely.

"How could I possibly know if I want gargoyle children if I've never seen one?" she demands. "I didn't even know gargoyles existed until today. Do you know human women can die in childbirth? My question was completely legitimate, and if that's a problem for you, I'll ask you to fly me home right now."

I blink. I have no idea what to say, because she is right. My eagerness got the better of me, and I put her in an impossible situation, asking too much of her.

She is not a gargoyle .

Humans have hunted us in the past, but I thought things might be changing at last. When I saw Jasper and his human, Arielle, earlier tonight, I knew immediately they were perfect together. Arielle didn't seem to mind the fact that her baby would eventually have tentacles, so I thought Morgan would be equally eager to mate with us.

But Morgan didn't come here to be our mate.

I want to kneel at her feet again and beg for forgiveness, but there is something that's been nagging me, a question I couldn't quite pinpoint—until now.

I squash down the instinct that's telling me to protect my mate, even from myself, and ask, "Why are you here?"